Group at top of list to run Duval's 4 most struggling schools not in business very long

Thursday

Jun 30, 2011 at 12:01 AM

Topher Sanders

National Academic Educational Partners, the front-runner for teaming with Duval Partners to possibly run the county's four most struggling public schools, has helped improve reading scores at most of the Florida charter schools it has worked with, but that's only after a little more than a year of being in existence.

Jeffrey Hernandez, National Academic's president, told the Times-Union his company's 17 months of operating doesn't mean it doesn't have a record of success.

"The model we use in my organization came from the decade of transforming schools that I have," Hernandez said Wednesday. "Everything we do has a proven track record because it's been done over and over again, and it's successful."

He said all of the educators with his company have experience improving struggling schools.

Hernandez said the company has worked with seven charter schools in the state and that all are expected to get off the F list today when school grades are released.

That track record speaks for itself, he said.

The Times-Union was able to find data for five of the schools but not the other two.

Four of the five schools showed improvement in the percentage of students reading at grade level, while one fell backward.

Raysa Martinez, principal of the 620-student Lincoln-Marti Little Havana Charter School, said she gives National Academic all the credit for helping nearly all of her grades improve in reading.

Martinez said the company was particularly helpful in helping her instructors use data more effectively to tailor instruction and to improve differentiated instruction for students.

Hernandez said he started turnaround consulting in 2008 while he was the Palm Beach school district's chief academic officer.

He was part of a team in Memphis, Tenn., that developed the district's turnaround plan for nearly 30 schools. Officials with the Memphis school district didn't respond to requests for interviews.

It was during his work with the Memphis school district that he ran into controversy over using his leave time from Palm Beach to do the $1,500-a-day consulting job.

Hernandez stressed Wednesday he did nothing wrong while in Palm Beach and that an audit vindicated him of any wrongdoing.

He said National Academic is also working with a half-dozen schools in Milwaukee's school system. The district's spokeswoman said she was too busy to fulfill an interview request Wednesday.

Hernandez wouldn't give an estimate on how much his company's services would cost Duval County taxpayers, saying he would have to first see the details of what's being requested.

Duval Partners still hasn't decided if National Academic is the one it will hire to possibly manage four of Duval's struggling schools, but the company was the highest rated by Duval Partners members.

The Duval County School Board voted to make Duval Partners, a nonprofit group created by the board, the management group of the four schools should they not improve and the state reject any appeals.

topher.sanders@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4169

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